Investigation of pleuritic chest pain (summary)

This is a basic article for medical students and other non-radiologists

Pleuritic chest pain is chest pain that is precipitated by movement or forceful breathing and tends to be sharp in nature. It is often accompanied by a perception of dyspnea which may be secondary to suppression of respiration.

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Pathophysiology

Pleuritic chest pain is caused by the irritation of the nerves in the parietal pleura - the visceral pleura has no innervation. Branches of the intercostal nerves innervate the rib cage and lateral hemidiaphragm while branches of the phrenic nerve innervate the ipsilateral neck, shoulder and central hemidiaphragm.